Arizona Estate Planning Laws

Medical Power of Attorney

I want to speak to you today regarding what a medical power of attorney is in the state of Arizona. A medical power of attorney is a legal document allowing a person to designate another person to make medical decisions on their behalf in the event they are incapacitated and unable to make those decisions for themselves.

Duration

A medical power of attorney is effective until it is subsequently revoked, upon any expiration date set forth in the document, or upon the person’s recovery from the condition that rendered him or her unable to make their own medical decisions. The patient’s physician makes a determination whether a person is or is not incapacitated for the purpose of determining if the patient or the person designated in the health care power of attorney will be authorized to make medical decisions.

Please feel free to contact the attorneys at Hildebrand Law if you have any other questions regarding a medical power of attorney in Arizona.

By: Chris Hildebrand

About Chris Hildebrand

I’m Chris Hildebrand. I’m an attorney and the founder of Hildebrand Law. I’ve been practicing for almost twenty years. I enjoy estate planning because it gives me the ability to work closely with my clients, come up with solutions, not only solutions in terms of protecting their assets and the debts while they’re alive, but also to provide for their heirs and make sure that they are comfortable knowing that the people they care most about are protected. It also gives me the opportunity to create real relationships with people, real friendships and I find that really fascinating and interesting.

Scottsdale Estate Planning

I really enjoy that part of the practice. I think a lot of people’s fear with regards to addressing estate planning issues or meeting with an estate planning attorney is you’re inherently talking about a subject that people are uncomfortable with, which is their potential death and their assets and how much they have and how many debts they have. Clients invariably leave after the estate planning process is complete and they’re very relieved because they now know that what is important to them is protected. I think they really leave feeling empowered because of the decisions they’ve made going forward. It really forces us to look at their family as a whole and come up with a life plan for them so that they can achieve the desires or the wants or the things that they want to do both short term, now, as well as long term when they retire.

If you have any questions about estate planning or want to know more about the estate planning process, feel free to email me and I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have.

By: Chris Hildebrand

Typical estate planning documents include a living trust, a pour-over will, a living will, and powers of attorney for financial, health care, and mental health care decision-making. Tax planning, if needed, may include irrevocable trusts and asset protection may include LLCs, trusts, and careful planning. I’m Mark Bregman. Contact me at (480) 945-9131 to find out more about creating your own effective and affordable estate plan.

By: Attorney Mark Bregman

A basic estate plan is going to include a last will and testament, financial power of attorney, medical power of attorney with mental health powers and living will, and a personal property list if the individual chooses to create one. These are documents that every estate plan will have. From there, people have choices. For example, if you have minor children and want money paid to them over time, many couples will elect to create a revocable living trust. A trust will allow for the passing of someone’s estate without going through probate, keeping your financial information private, and allowing for money and assets to be given out over time, rather than one lump some, which is what happens in a probate situation. There are additional estate-planning documents that can be drafted if you want to avoid probate and you do not have a trust. For example, a beneficiary deed will allow you to select who will receive your house and other real estate immediately upon your death without ever having to go through the probate process. And, the Motor Vehicle Department now allows us to prepare a beneficiary designation, so that you can select who will receive your vehicle upon your death. There are many tools that an estate planner can provide to help you with setting things up to care for you and your loved ones. If you would like to create, revise, or update your estate plan, please call Owens & Perkins at (480) 994-8824.

If you would like to review estate planning documents with an attorney, visit this profile and submit a contact form.

By: Attorney Michelle Perkins

Hello, I’m Mark Bregman, an Arizona estate planning and probate attorney since 1979. Clients hire me because I provide them with a high degree of comfort by explaining the different ways they can plan an estate, and then following through by creating a comprehensive plan using documents that help them avoid a guardianship, conservatorship, and probate, and the advice appropriate to help them and their loved ones achieve their expectations. I stay in contact with my clients and make sure their plans will be effective when most needed. This is the most popular reason clients hire me. What differentiates me from other attorneys is that I have spent many years developing and updating the provisions I use in creating trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and living wills designed to provide maximum protection for my clients, their families, and their hard earned wealth. I listen to my clients and convey difficult, non-intuitive concepts in a way that is easily understood. I begin by collecting information that induces prospective clients to think about what is important to them so that when we meet, I can listen to them tell me about themselves, their values, their families, and their intentions. I recognize that their wealth is also important to clients with little money. Every family has issues that should be discussed so that the client can choose his or her own way of dealing with their own family dynamics I can provide inexpensive and easy solutions using beneficiary deeds, POD accounts, and beneficiary designations to pass assets without using a trust or a probate, if it’s not necessary. Most of my clients are referred by financial advisors and satisfied clients who already trust me. I asked my clients to put aside their pre-conceived ideas of what they want and instead, focus on whether they like me. Not all lawyers are for all clients. I can’t write poetry or solve quadratic equations and I certainly can’t do the work most of my clients do, but I can create great estate plans. If you would like to work with me and my team, please give me a call at (480) 945-9131.

By: Attorney Mark Bregman

A living trust is a popular tool used to avoid a probate proceeding, provide creditor protection to a surviving spouse, keep your financial information private, and allow you to avoid a conservatorship and direct who will handle your finances if you are unable to do so yourself. It allows you to give your wealth to who you want, when you want, and how you want all at the lowest possible cost including taxes, expenses, and professional fees. I’m Mark Bregman. Contact me at (480) 945-9131 to find out more about creating your own affordable estate plan.

By: Attorney Mark Bregman

How to Avoid Probate in Scottsdale

I want to speak to you today regarding how you may avoid probate in the state of Arizona. Since probate is a legal proceeding, lawyers may be retained to represent heirs of the person appointed to manage the person’s estate. Avoiding probate therefore, will likely save the estate and parties the attorneys fees and other costs incurred in a probate case.

Estate Planning

A properly executed estate plan, including a properly executed trust, funded with all of your property and appointing an executor to manage your estate will in most cases avoid the need for your heirs to be involved in a probate action in Arizona. Please feel free to contact the attorneys at Hildebrand Law, if you have any other questions on ways to avoid a probate in Arizona.

By: Chris Hildebrand

Adult Conservatorships

I want to speak to you today regarding adult conservatorships in the state of Arizona. An adult conservatorship occurs when a person is no longer able to provide for their own care or who is unable to take care of their own finances.

A conservator may have the authority to determine where that person will live and will make arrangements for the person’s daily life, including the food they eat, the clothes they wear, the transportation to medical and other appointments and the social and recreational activities the person will enjoy. The conservator however, must obtain the court’s approval for certain decisions, such as decisions regarding medical care and living arrangements.

Please feel free to contact the attorneys at Hildebrand Law if you have any other questions regarding an adult conservatorship in Arizona.

By: Chris Hildebrand

A living will is a declaration that you do not want to be kept alive if you are in a persistent vegetative state, an irreversible coma, or have an incurable illness or progressive disease and you will die naturally unless heroic or artificial measures, such as a feeding tube, or a breathing apparatus are used. A living will can declare that if you are in a persistent vegetative state, irreversible coma, or dying from an incurable disease or illness, you want as much pain medication as you need to be kept comfortable, even if hastens the moment of your death, or exceeds routine guidelines. A living will is different than a health care power of attorney, which gives authority to your agent to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to make them yourself. Today, most clients also want a mental health care power of attorney, which declares that if you are unable to give informed consent to your placement in a facility or other recommended treatment, your agent has the authority to agree to the placement or treatment without first obtaining a court order. I’m Mark Bregman. Contact me at (480) 945-9131 to find out how I can use my knowledge and experience to help you and your family from suffering during an end of life experience.

By: Attorney Mark Bregman